Reliability, construct validity, and factorial structure of a Swedish version of the medical outcomes study social support survey (MOS-SSS) in patients with chronic pain

Objectives This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of a Swedish version of the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS).Methods Standard forward-backward translation was used. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among treatment seeking individuals with chronic pain included in a clinical cohort. Internal consistency was measured with Cronbach's a, test-retest reliability was examined with intraclass correlation, confirmatory factor analyses was used for examining factor structure, and correlations between the MOS-SSS and selected health validity measures were used for testing concurrent validity hypotheses.Results 182 participants were included in the study. Internal consistency measured with Cronbach's alpha was acceptable for all subscales and for the total support index of the MOS-SSS. Test-retest reliability was moderate - good for the different subscales, and was good for the overall support index. The original four factor model of the MOS-SSS was confirmed, and the concurrent validity hypotheses were also confirmed; however, the associations were weaker than expected.Conclusions The Swedish version of the MOS-SSS was found psychometrically sound and offers a systematic assessment of social support in specialized pain care.